


Read these words (but darling, you'll never know they're mine)

by NicePlaceToBe



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/M, Fluff, Love Letters, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Archie Andrews, Romantic Fluff, What Have I Done, betty doesn't know she's pining, just a little bughead for your soul, just no weirdness, no one dies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:22:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23964559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NicePlaceToBe/pseuds/NicePlaceToBe
Summary: Archie realises how awesome Betty is and wants Jughead's help in wooing her via love letters. Unfortunately, Jughead is way ahead of him, already head-over-heels for Betty, and is never going to do anything about it.Or:AU where no one dies and there is no creepy supernatural stuff, just a ton of pining and me getting my weekly dose of fluff
Relationships: Archie Andrews & Betty Cooper, Archie Andrews & Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones & Kevin Keller & Veronica Lodge, Archie Andrews & Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper & Kevin Keller & Veronica Lodge, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, Jellybean Jones & Jughead Jones
Comments: 24
Kudos: 134





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, so, I've never written for this pairing before- I'm kinda new to writing fanfiction and I'm trying out some of my fandoms. I had the idea for this Love Letters AU and I felt like it fit with the characters so I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> (Admittedly I stopped watching Riverdale somewhere between the Sugar Man and G&G, so I hope this comes out alright!) 
> 
> Let me know what you think!

Jughead hadn’t planned on any of this. He doesn’t actually quite know how any of this happened. All he knows for sure is that he is a fucking idiot.

-

Jughead doesn’t know when he realised it. It was just one of the things he had always known. The sky was blue. Jughead liked reading. Betty Cooper was in love with Archie Andrews.

He had always known Betty was destined for Archie. Betty Cooper and Archie Andrews- the football star and the girl next door. They would grow up together, be high-school sweethearts, get married and have two point five kids and a dog, live in a house complete with a white picket fence. And Jughead would- well, he’d probably be the kid’s ‘weird Uncle Jughead’, turning up on holidays because there was nowhere else to go.

It might never have been spoken aloud, but their story was already written for them- Jughead could see their future just as clearly as Betty could, who was nursing a raging crush on Archie for as long as Jughead could remember. The only problem, standing in the way of their eternal and perfect happiness?

Archie Andrews was oblivious.

He didn’t see Betty in love with him- though he did see all the rest of the female population at Riverdale High. So Jughead watched (for _years)_ Archie chasing girl after girl who wasn’t Betty and Betty immersing herself in being the straight-A student, the kind-hearted friend, the perfect girl, to ignore it.

When they were younger, they were a trio- they had all been so close. Jughead and Archie and Betty. Jughead can remember sitting on Archie’s couch and playing video games with him and Betty- sometimes Betty would play and crush them both in Mario Kart, other times, when they were playing a game she didn’t know, she would just sit and watch.

(Jughead wishes he had offered to teach her how to play because it was always more fun with the three of them. Instead, as they got older, Betty started to get called home earlier by an irate and stern Alice Cooper, until she didn’t come over to play video games anymore.)

And then Gladys Jones walked out on her husband and her son. Jughead had come home from school early that day, and he managed to convince his mother to leave Jellybean with them, but it hurt all the same to watch her go- and know she would have taken his sister with her, but left him behind. FP had fallen off the wagon and Jughead had picked up the slack. He cooked and he cleaned and he reassured Jellybean (because he had promised himself he would protect her and no one could do that better than her big brother).

Jughead doesn’t think about those few weeks where he felt like he was drowning, counting the bills and working out how long they could go on for- _no one would hire a kid, could he make it until he could legally get a part-time job?_ Fortunately, FP managed to rouse himself from his stupor and see his son struggling to keep their family together. He got a job and Jughead threw out all the liquor in the trailer and tried to adjust to the new normal.

But those few weeks marked a change in Jughead’s relationships for ever.

Archie had been confused about why they couldn’t hang out after school, but he had always had other friends, so he accepted it as a temporary change. Jughead had just been trying to get through the school day- save as much food from his lunch as possible for dinner- and had withdrawn into himself.

He thinks that when Betty noticed her friend (self-professed to “never not be hungry”) not eating, she must have guessed there was trouble at home, and that’s why she started dropping cupcakes and other baked goods at the trailer. When he confronted her (because Jughead couldn’t _admit_ he needed help) Betty had denied it with wide eyes- Jughead hated pity, but looking back on those cupcakes, he’s sure they saved his life.

Unfortunately, that was as close as Jughead would get to Betty Cooper for many years. When the Jones family was just barely keeping together, even with FP working full-time, Jughead got a job at the drive-in. He became a bit of a loner, an observer in the halls. Archie remained Jughead’s best friend- because they didn’t really talk much about what was going on at home, they played video games and ragged on each other and it was a comfortable sort of support. But Betty and Jughead drifted.

Betty was just trying to keep her head above water. With all her extracurriculars, academics and having Alice Cooper as her mother, something had to give. That thing was her friendship with Jughead- but she never stopped watching him, looking for him unconsciously in her classes and in the halls. She didn't talk to him, but anyone trying to badmouth Jughead Jones around Betty Cooper soon learnt how to hold their tongue. She didn’t know what she would say after all these years if she did talk to him, but she missed his presence in her life all the same.

(Because much as Betty pretended to be, she wasn’t perfect and somehow, she knew that Jughead knows that- maybe because he had always been the one to tempt her to play in the mud or say no, even as a child.)

Jughead watched Betty blossom into a beautiful young woman- recognising his childhood friend but the differences as well; the maturity which sometimes looked like a heavy weight to carry, the adoration of Archie Andrews (and Jughead always _refused_ to think about why that made his gut clench), the investigative journalism flair that he could have guessed from the way she used to devour Nancy Drew.

And he was content to just watch. Jughead didn’t expect there to be any change in their relationship for the remainder of high-school. But then one day, Betty Cooper called him to a dusty office in the bowels of Riverdale High with a hopeful smile (after having decided that if she couldn't handle everything, then by God Betty was finished with trying to live up to the impossibly high standards of Alice Cooper).

“If print journalism is dead, then why am I here?”

“The ‘ _Blue and Gold’_ isn’t dead, Juggy.” He doesn’t know why, but that nickname makes his heart pound a little in his chest, as if they’re close enough friends to use endearments. “It’s just dormant.”

Her eyebrows raise and she smiles at him, her signature ponytail bouncing slightly in suggestion

“Right. And you want me to….”

“I want you to come and write for the ‘ _Blue and Gold’."_ Betty was resolute in her response, but he could tell she was a little nervous about his reaction.

“I’m not sure a school paper is the right fit for my voice,” he replied, but he knew he was just stalling for time. If Betty asked him to do something, Jughead would do it in a heartbeat; it didn’t mean she had to know it though.

“Come on, Jughead. You’ve always had a way with words and I’ve read some of your stuff, it’s really good. This could be a jumping off point for your future career as a writer!”

His heart warmed a little at the thought that Betty had read his writing and liked it, but even if he had been looking for a way back into Betty’s life for years, he wasn’t just going to crumple. Jughead had standards. He asked suspiciously, “Would I get complete freedom?”

Her eyes lit up at the partial agreement and she reassured him. “I’ll help. And edit. And _suggest,_ but it’s your story. Your voice.”

Jughead was just a little bit enraptured by being so close to her, watching the million minute changes in her expression; the slight flick of her eyebrows and the twist of her lips, the way her voice changed to cajole and convince him- as if he could ever deny her anything.

“Doesn’t _sound_ like complete freedom... but I’m in.” His scepticism was clear in his tone, but the smile that spread across his face at the grin on Betty’s was enough to make her feel something like a blush rising in her cheeks.

-

From that moment on, it was almost like they were that trio again. Jughead found himself slipping back into having friends. He played video games with Archie like he always had, but now he hung out with Betty after school at the ‘ _Blue and Gold’_ , working on articles and editing the shit out of some of the things the other writers (when they eventually joined).

Jughead hadn’t realised how much he had missed her until he was sitting there with her (or in Pop’s or anywhere else in the world, because as long as he was with Betty then it didn’t matter where he was) and she laughed at his quips and asked him how Jellybean was and subtly poked and prodded him into admitting how he himself was doing.

But it just hit him one day, out of the blue. He was sitting on the ratty old couch and watching Betty rip his article to shreds with a red pen and he- he didn’t mind.

The base of the pen rested against her lips as she wore a contemplative face, reading something and then her eyebrows furrowing as she rewrote it to make it better (because there was nothing Betty did that didn’t make everything brighter, bolder, better). Betty had let her hair out of the ponytail (which Kevin had dubbed ‘iconic’ and while Jughead was inclined to agree, it was nice to see her with her hair down- doubly nice to know she trusted him to be one of the only people who saw her like this). She had looked up at him with a grin, eyes kind and amused and said

“This is great Jug.”

He thinks he may have snarked back something like, “I can see that from the way my article is bleeding,” but he doesn’t really remember because she just laughed and told him

“I was getting rid of some of your semicolons. Just a suggestion! But it’s really good Jughead.”

And he just knew. In that moment, when she was looking at him with a soft smile and Jughead didn’t think he wanted to breathe if she wasn’t in the room.

(He remembered every memory; every smile he had treasured, every little shift of expression that had captured his attention from afar for years and dominated his thoughts since he started writing for the ‘ _Blue and Gold’_. Crap.)

He knew it. Knew it in his bones as certainly as he knew he had lived in Riverdale his whole life and was going to get out as soon as he could. Knew it like he knew he was a good writer. Knew it like how he knew it was impossible.

(Because Betty Cooper was Archie’s. She always had been, Archie Andrews and Betty Cooper were the golden couple guaranteed the perfect life together. Jughead felt the air being knocked out of his lungs. Shit)

Jughead was in love with Betty Cooper and there wasn’t a thing he could do about it.

( _Fuck_ )

-

Jughead’s immediate response was denial. It didn’t happen, therefore Jughead didn’t have to do anything about it.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t _quite_ work like that. It was suddenly glaringly obvious (to Jughead at least) that he had a crush on Betty.

As soon as he walked into school, he was unconsciously seeking her out- he hadn’t noticed how much he craved contact with her, attention from her. How any time he spent with Betty was time he felt lighter, more free than he had felt in…far too long. Like how she made him feel as amazed as the first time he sat in the booth at the drive-in and watched the light and reel working together to make something come alive, because he found himself with that same awe, the same adoration as he did when the phrase ‘movie magic’ first made sense to him.

His every sense felt tuned into what Betty was doing- which was equally parts incredible and agony. Because while he found himself catching all her little eyebrow raises, eyerolls and wry grins that defied her ‘perfect girl’ façade that delighted him, it also meant he couldn’t miss all those longing gazes at Archie, the obvious tenderness she carried for him.

The only thing more tortuous than realising not only that he was an oblivious idiot- who couldn't even tell when he had a crush on someone- was that Veronica and Kevin had noticed. Since Betty recruited Jughead for the ‘ _Blue and Gold’,_ he had been eating lunch with them all (Betty, Archie, Veronica and Kevin).

Jughead had long ago learned to make his peace with Archie’s football friends- Moose Mason was nice, if a little on the slow side, and Reggie could be tolerable when he was trying, though Jughead gave as good as he got so he probably couldn’t complain. Kevin Keller and Veronica Lodge were a whole new kettle of fish- the son of the sheriff and a New York socialite. They were Betty’s best friends though, so Jughead put in the effort and was pleasantly surprised.

He had known Kevin since kindergarten, though they had never really bonded. But Jughead found that Kevin had a sarcastic streak to match his own and would defending Betty with his dying breath, so making overtures there hadn’t been difficult.

Veronica Lodge was slightly trickier. She was privileged and rich in a way beyond Jughead’s wildest dreams and he was inclined to scorn her (which he _knew_ wasn’t exactly _fair,_ but neither was poverty or feeling like the main parent to his younger sister, so Jughead feels like he had a little leeway). But once again, he was struck by her strong friendship with Betty and her own attempts to welcome him to their little group. So Jughead hung his prejudices up in his cupboard and tried to reciprocate- and much to his surprise, he found her literature references refreshing and stubbornness in spades.

No one was more shocked than Jughead at his having friends- and yet, there he was. Much to his chagrin however, Veronica and Kevin had been watching his and Betty’s relationship unfold with bated breath.

(Kevin had watched his best friend fall apart far too often to still be as enamoured with Archie as Betty was. Yet somehow, she kept doing it. Kevin understood she was in love with him and it was what Betty thought she had to do- and _yes_ admittedly Archie was hot- but it didn’t stop him from wondering _why_ she kept putting herself out there to get hurt. With Jughead, Betty didn’t have to try as hard as she did with Archie- she looked more at ease, she laughed more and seemed infinitely more comfortable.

Veronica admittedly hadn’t been there from the start of the epic love story, but as a newcomer, she couldn’t help but notice how Betty didn’t seem to actually _enjoy_ spending time with Archie. She was always more worried about it than anything.

Veronica didn’t know much about love- she had never been in love herself and with divorced parents, she couldn’t attest to knowing exactly how a loving relationship was supposed to work. But Veronica is pretty sure it shouldn’t be stressful to be with them, that it was supposed to be a little messy and a little complicated, but in the end that person made you feel like you were walking on air but also safe. And maybe she didn’t see the whole Betty and Archie saga from the beginning, but she couldn’t help but notice that Betty seemed to have a lot more in common with a certain beanie-wearing, sarcastic writer than the boy-next-door.)

It only took one lunch for _them_ to know that _Jughead_ knew, which was plenty enough time to interrogate him.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe he knows. I’ve been waiting for this day ever since he started working at the ‘ _Blue and Gold’,”_ Kevin grinned widely.

“Are you going to tell her?” Veronica asked, raising an eyebrow regally.

Kevin scoffed as Jughead asked, “Tell who, what? What are you two talking about?”

“Betty! About your crush on her.”

Jughead lengthened his strides to try and outstrip both of them, trying not to show his sudden falter at their mention of it- as if it were obvious.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replied, shoving his beanie further down on his head as if he could disappear into it.

“Come on Jughead, you have to at least tell her!” Kevin was a lover of a good romantic comedy (maybe because a happy ending for him seemed so far out of reach in such a small and homophobic town) and was firmly convinced a confession was absolutely the way to go.

“No, I really don’t,” Jughead let a little more sarcasm tint that and this time Veronica, power-walking in heels to keep up with him as they flew down the hallway, asked

“Why not?”

Jughead stopped suddenly to give Veronica a good, hard look.

“ _Why_ would I tell her? So that she could tell me she’s been in love with Archie since she was five and barely considers me a friend, let alone a romantic interest? Or so that Betty could pretend she was fine with it but feel horrible and eventually it would destroy our partnership at the ‘ _Blue and Gold’_? Or so that she and Archie could just awkwardly bring it up on their twentieth wedding anniversary and laugh about their old pal Jughead from way-back-when who thought he might even have a shot with Betty when it was only a matter of time before Archie pulled his head out of his ass?”

Jughead let out a huge breath and dragged a hand over his face, closing his eyes for just a moment. When he opened them, he saw a sceptical Veronica and a raised eyebrow from Kevin.

“You really believe Betty and Archie are going to end up together?” Kevin asked, sharing a look with Veronica.

“How could they not? She’s perfect and so is he. The quarterback and the cheerleader; tale as old as time, right?” Jughead shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Don’t tell Archie or Betty about this, alright? I don’t need to get in the way of that.”

He set off back down the way they’d come, while Veronica and Kevin exchanged a glance. All that look conveyed could basically be summarised in just one word: ‘ _Idiots.’_

_-_

But Jughead was right.

Eventually, Archie pulled his head out of his ass (because _it’s not a hat, Andrews)_ and realised how amazing Betty was. Jughead had always thought it would be a matter of time, because how could anyone _not_ love Betty, with how hard she tried.

(He wondered if anyone else noticed the way she twirled the end of her ponytail when she was nervous, how she flexed her hands when she was getting angry or scared, how she was terrifyingly competitive and loved it when someone challenged her to think, to move, to push herself.

Jughead wondered if Betty would value his careful and quiet love of all of her- even the pieces she tried to hide- to the love of Archie, who only ever seemed to see the barest parts Betty put on display. Then he shook himself. Betty would pick Archie every time- and Jughead just had to learn how to stifle those kind of inane thoughts)

It had been a fairly normal day- though Jughead had noticed Archie shooting Betty more looks, with a concentrated expression on his face. It was only after school, when Jughead had agreed to play video games at Archie’s, that Jughead’s suspicions were confirmed.

“What do you think of Betty?”

Jughead thinks his heart must have dropped into his stomach for the weight that was suddenly dragging him down. He tried to focus on the game as he fought to sound unconcerned, “You mean our friend Betty?"

“Yeah, Jug, that Betty.”

“She’s my friend Arch. Obviously I like her.”

“Ok, but what do you _think_ of her?” Archie emphasised the word with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

“I think she’s smart. A bit stubborn but kind. Always putting everyone else before herself, you know?” Jughead answered honestly before he lobbed a question back at Archie, “Why do you ask?”

“I kind of think I like her.”

Jughead wished it was easier to hate his friend, but he was too goddamn likeable. It was Jughead’s fault he was in this mess; he couldn’t blame Archie for being interested in Betty- even if it had taken him far too long.

“That’s great Archie!” Jughead hoped it didn’t sound as hollow to is friend as it did to himself.

“Should I ask her out? Do you think I’d have a shot with her, Jug?”

He was so earnest in his question that Jughead couldn’t even consider answering anything other than

“Of course you do,” the words tasted just a little bitter on his tongue, “Just tell her how you feel.

“I’ll ask her out to Pop’s tomorrow,” Archie said as he hit a few buttons and the familiar ‘Game over’ message flashed on the screen.

Jughead regarded his friend for a moment, “Wait, you’re just going to ask her to Pop’s?”

“Yeah?” Archie shrugged but Jughead’s conscience screamed at him. Betty deserved more than just a simple open-for-interpretation invitation to a diner they always hung out at, especially after how long she had waited for Archie to wake up and see what was right in front of him.

“Arch, she's Betty. Don’t you want to try and sweep her off her feet?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, just- it’s Betty. She’s your best friend. Shouldn’t there be some sort of gesture?”

Jughead didn’t mean to meddle, but it was _Betty._ She had been waiting for this day for forever. If Jughead was going to watch his best friend and the girl he loved ride off into the sunset together, he was at least going to make sure it was an ending worthy of Betty Cooper.

Archie’s brows furrowed in thought, “What kind of gesture?”

“I don’t know. I don’t date. Get her some flowers. Write her a love letter. Climb up to her or toss rocks at her window. Something to show her you care.”

Archie grinned, “A love letter? You’re brilliant Jug!”

Then his face fell.

“What would I write? I’m not great with words- not like Betty or you.”

“You write lyrics, don’t you?” Jughead asked, but internally he was wincing.

He had listened to some of Archie’s stuff… it wasn’t exactly the kind of thing you wanted playing at your wedding. Unless, of course, you wanted all your guests crying and the bride to ditch the wedding just so she wouldn’t have to listen to it anymore, then it was definitely the kind of music you’d want to play.

Archie sent him a sceptical look- their friends hadn’t been excessively harsh, but they had let Archie know that while they thought he was talented, it wasn’t particularly _upbeat_ music.

Then Archie seemed to have an idea. He smiled hopefully at him and Jughead already regretted saying anything.

“What?”

“You could write the love letter for me! I want to impress Betty, but I don’t think I’ll be able to do it with my writing. If you do it, then it’ll sound so much better!”

Jughead spluttered. His brain couldn’t compute. He didn’t understand.

“Archie, that’s the _worst_ idea you’ve ever had,” he managed to get out, but his friend was on a roll.

“I’ll buy you a burger! Come on, Betty would be so happy! Just one love letter, to make the gesture so that she won’t be disappointed she agreed to a date with me.”

Archie’s wheedling unfortunately seemed to be just as effective as Betty _asking_ because Jughead found himself acquiescing.

“One letter. And then I’m done.”

Archie nodded eagerly, “Thanks Jughead, I really want to make sure Betty says yes.”

-

“Have you told Betty you’re in love with her yet?” Jellybean asked, hunched over her homework at the table as Jughead walked into the trailer, slinging all his stuff onto his bed.

“Hey JB, I had a _great_ day, thanks for asking. How’s the maths homework going?”

“You’re deflecting, Forsythe,” she said in a tone far too wise to be his younger sister.

“You’re fixating, _Forsynthia_ ,” Jughead replied a little smugly- it was nice being able to pull the name-card, since all of his friends had _normal_ names and so when they called him Forsythe, there was no response.

Jellybean however, had been cursed with the same stupid name as his, and he got no little amusement out of her huff.

“What happened? You haven’t been this evasive since Veronica and Kevin confronted you.”

Jughead was kind of regretting confiding in his sister about his crush, but it was too late to go back now. and it wasn’t like Jellybean was going to spill his secret, just needle him about it a lot. Still. Jughead could probably do without it, given the conversation he just had with Archie.

He slumped into the chair across from her and put his head into his hands.

“Archie’s got a crush on Betty,” he groaned.

“Oh,” he could see his sister mouthing, thinking it over.

“And I think I might have just promised to write a love letter for him- to Betty. As Archie.”

There was silence and Jughead had to take the moment while Jellybean said, in a tone completely devoid of any inflection, “What.”

He shrugged, burying his face further into his hands.

“Jughead, you’re an idiot.”

“Thanks Jellybean, I really appreciate that,” came his muffled reply before he let out another sigh and straightened, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll figure it out. Do you need any help?”

Jellybean grimaced at the way Jughead pulled himself back together.

Jellybean might like Betty a lot for all the times she came over and made cupcakes (and how she offered a listening ear to the younger girl even though she barely knew her because Betty knew she didn’t have many female influences in her life) and how she made Jughead happier, but at the same time, she hated how she tore her brother apart without meaning to.

Jellybean Jones knew what a destructive love looked like- the way it ate away at you, the way what you used to love about each other became the biggest inconvenience, the way romance turned bitter in your mouth. She had seen it in her parents- she doesn’t remember a time when they hadn’t been fighting, but there were little moments of care, kisses or swaying in the darkened living room, that told her it hadn’t always been this way.

She doesn’t want to see her brother get hurt like that. But at the same time, Betty made Jughead freer- she balanced him out. Jellybean just wished Betty could see that maybe loving Archie Andrews (who she loved like a stupid older brother but didn’t complement Betty the way Jughead did) wasn’t all it cracked up to be.

Archie Andrews and Betty Cooper were like two right shoes. Sure, they had a lot in common and seemed the same, but they were made of different things, they were _for_ different things.

If Jughead and Betty were shoes, they were a pair; they were complete without each other, but together, they were something more, they could achieve so much as a team. They were made of the same sort of things- honesty, curiosity, stubbornness, a love of writing, a want for justice- and even though they appeared slightly different, they complemented each other.

But Jellybean couldn’t say any of that, because Jughead was trying so hard to keep everything together. Instead, she pointed to one of her maths problems.

“Do you know how to do this? I got negative two, but their answer was a fraction…”

Jughead knew Jellybean probably didn’t _really_ need her big brother’s help- she was the smartest kid he had ever met- but he was grateful for the distraction, if only to forget about the mess he had gotten himself into.

-

The blinking cursor looked accusingly at Jughead from the blank page. For some reason, he couldn’t figure out how put his feelings onto paper- especially if he was meant to be passing it off as Archie’s. How should he even start?

The longer he looked at that page, the worse it became. He snapped his laptop shut. That was where he wrote all of his articles, everything he had his name attached to as a writer. This wasn’t one of those things- he couldn’t write it on there.

Instead, he snatched up a piece of paper and a pen and started writing before he could second-guess himself. It came surprisingly easily once he got past the beginning, because it was just confessing everything Jughead had been thinking about since he realised Betty Cooper was the only girl he’d ever been in love with. It was more than a little therapeutic to get it all out- and while Jughead knew he could never tell Betty any of this as himself, he found the idea of letting her know his feelings (even if she did think they were Archie’s) a nice one.

He sat back, hand a little sore and feeling a little silly but grinning all the same.

(Did it hurt that Betty would never reciprocate or appreciate a love letter from Jughead Jones? Yeah, it fucking _burned._ Did Jughead think he could stop loving her even if he wanted to- and God, sometimes how he wanted to? Not a snowball’s chance in hell.)

He read it through.

_Dear Betty,_

_I’ve been your best friend for what feels like forever and there’s so much I wish I could tell you, or that had told you sooner._

_One of those things is how much I love your name- you’re not Elizabeth, not Liz or Eliza or Beth. The nickname you go by is part of the one your parents gave you, but it’s also your own. That’s the kind of thing I like about you- how you always worry about whether you’re going to hurt other people’s feelings, and if you are then you find a way to make the things you want and the things they want to happen. ~~You’re so selfless sometimes, but I love it just as much when you are selfish, because you deserve to have the things you want too, Betty~~. _

_I like the way you pay attention in class- you seem so happy to be learning, which is a little contagious, and it means I can see you getting excited about the things you love. (It doesn’t hurt that you’re also gorgeous and it means I can admire you without you noticing. ~~I’m sorry, but you’re beautiful, inside and out, and I somehow always forget to tell you that~~.)_

_I like that you fight so hard for justice because it’s important to you that everyone is equal and held accountable. I wish there were more people like you, Betty Cooper, because maybe then you wouldn’t need to stay awake so late planning social justice articles, or using the kitchen at Veronica’s because your mom won’t let you stay up to bake all the cupcakes you promised for the bake sales but forgot to make because you’re always so busy ~~cleaning up everyone else’s messes~~. _

_I don’t like the way that you never accept help even when you need it, but I love when you let me finally take some of the burdens off your shoulders. ~~I wish I could do it more often because you don’t owe yourself to them Betty, you deserve being able to take more breaks from being perfect, it must be exhausting~~. You don’t need to do everything to be fucking incredible, you do that just fine on your own. _

_~~I don’t like the scars I saw on your palms because I could tell you did that to yourself. It looked like you hadn’t in a while, but I wish you could tell me when you feel like that. I might not be able to fix it, but I want to understand and help you any way I can, even if it's just listening to you work through the anxiety and supporting you.~~_

_I like the way you rap your fingernails on the desk in that specific pattern when we’re bored in class and you’re getting impatient. I like the way you chase down leads and find the brilliant stories where everyone else overlooked it. I like the way you write, and the way you brought the_ ‘ _Blue and Gold’ back to life so you could write the way you wanted to._

_~~I love the way you talk back to me and get sarcastic because it feels like you’re finally letting yourself go and say the things you think rather than always censoring yourself. I love it when you don’t try to be perfect; when we’re just sitting in the~~ _ ~~‘ _Blue and Gold’ and you make me laugh harder than I can remember, because Betty you are more perfect than you could imagine._~~

_I like the way I feel around you, because something about you makes me feel like I’m lighter than air, or like I have unlimited cash and am standing outside the bus station, looking at all the different places I could go, the paths I could take. I like the way you make me feel a little like I’m freefalling, but I know that there’s a net waiting to catch me ~~(or at least, I hope there is~~ ). I like the way I feel like I’m not alone when I’m with you. _

_But most of all, I like you Betty Cooper. ~~I think I might be in love with you.~~ _

_Maybe we could go to Pop’s together after school, because I’d really like to take you on a date. Let me know._

_Sincerely,_

_~~Jughead~~ _

_Archie Andrews_

He had to edit it to make it sound less like himself (cutting out the semicolons he loved so dearly and run-on sentences) because Betty had been editing him for a while and would be able to tell those obvious pointers from his style. Everything else… he just hoped she wouldn’t notice.

Jughead copied it out without all the crossing-outs of things he couldn’t make fit and things he couldn’t tell Betty- not as Archie, probably not ever. And when he went to sleep, he could still see some of his words taunting him in his dreams.

-

“I got a love letter,” Betty burst out the next day.

Jughead was surprised. He had assumed he would hear about it from Veronica or Kevin first- another part of why Jughead had suggested a romantic gesture to Archie was because, judging by their reactions to Jughead’s crush, Archie would have to prove himself as a suitor rather than just as ‘Archie-the-friend’ to those two. And yet, he heard it straight from the horse’s mouth.

“A what?” He asked stupidly. 

“A love letter. And it said it was from Archie,” she bounced a little nervously in her seat.

“Wow. Well that’s good isn’t it? I mean, haven’t you been wanting to go on a date with him for ages? I mean, I assume he asked you on a date if he gave you a love letter- did he?”

_Real smooth, Jones, real smooth._

Betty didn’t seem to notice. “He asked me to Pop’s. And I told him yes. And I haven’t told anyone except you.”

“Why not?” He couldn’t help himself from asking.

Betty pulled out her ponytail and started redoing it- Jughead had the sneaking suspicion it was just so she would have something to do with her hands.

“I mean, I love Veronica and Kevin and they’re both really close friends, but you’re like my best friend, you know? It’s different. And I really wanted to hear what you thought.” She watched him carefully. 

Jughead sighed, pulling his beanie off to ruffle his hair. “Well, if you’re happy, then I’m happy. Was the letter good?”

He tried not to sound too interested in that last part- operative word being _tried._

Betty smiled softly. “Yeah. It was really nice. But I’m not sure if I should have said yes to Pop’s. The love letter isn’t really like Archie, what if it’s a prank or-”

Jughead interrupted her, “Archie’s a song writer, a love letter isn’t out of the question,” internally he cussed out his best friend for not having the guts to write his own letter. “But that’s not what you’re worried about. So why don’t you tell me what’s really bothering you?”

Betty blew out a breath- having a best friend who knew her so well was both a blessing and a curse, because he could always see through her attempts to avoid the problem. She forced herself to say the words out loud- it was always so much easier to tell Jughead than anyone else, but it was still hard to make her anxieties something physical in the world. 

“What if I mess it up? What if it’s not the perfect first date I’ve been building up in my mind?”

Anxiety was clear in her tone and she wrung her hands, empty after finishing smoothing her ponytail. Jughead went almost on autopilot as he caught her fiddling fingers and held them in his own, stepping just a little bit closer. Betty’s eyes stared into his and his stomach flipped at how _green_ they were, shining even now with her warmth despite her nervousness.

“Hey Betty, you’re going to be fine. It’s just Archie, and it’s Pop’s. You know him, he knows you- you’re going to be great,” he tried for a smile and hoped it didn’t come out looking uncomfortable or sarcastic.

Betty dropped her eyes from his and whispered, “What if I’m not perfect?”

Irrationally, Jughead's temper flared slightly at that. She shouldn't have to be perfect; she was Betty- that was a million times better than perfect. 

“Then don’t be perfect.”

Her head snapped up at the complete contradiction to what she had been told her whole life. She was going to scoff, but she saw the earnestness in Jughead’s expression as he gave her a shy sort of smile that made her heart pound for a different reason.

He continued, “Be you Betty. You’re better than being perfect anyway.”

How could he do that? How could Jughead Jones say just a few words and completely calm her down and simultaneously make the blood rush to her cheeks?

Betty doesn’t know what she would have done then- paralysed under Jughead’s caring and _blue_ gaze, like the colour of the sky on all those days when Betty looked out her window and wished she could fall into the shade and escape- if her phone hadn’t buzzed.

“I have to-”

Jughead dropped her hands and stepped back, and for some reason, Betty suddenly felt very cold and more than a little disappointed.

“Go. Have fun- and tell Archie he owes me a burger.”

A slight frown flashed across Jughead’s face before he awkwardly nodded at her and gestured towards the door. Betty left the dusty office for the date she had been waiting for since she knew what a date was…and yet, for some reason, she felt as if she had left something behind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the positive support, it's great to hear people like my writing!
> 
> Initially, I was going to post this as a part of a bigger chapter, but I figured since I've written this I might as well post it. Now my middle chapters of this fic will be smaller, with bigger bookends for the first and last chapters! 
> 
> Also, lowkey threw some of my feelings on Betty this chapter- is it a universal experience being with boys and them playing video games you don't know but no one ever offers to teach you so you just sit there feeling bored and a little inadequate, or is that just me?
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you think!

For lack of a better word, their first date was… awkward.

Betty didn’t know what she had expected. She and Archie had been friends for so long, it was bound to be a little weird crossing that line in the sand.

But at the same time, it had felt very similar to before. They ordered milkshakes and burgers and chatted in the booth about football and how school was travelling for both of them. It was like- like every other time they hung out _as friends._ Except this time, at the end of the night, Archie walked her to her front door and pecked her on the cheek.

And that was…. a little weird, truth be told.

Betty knew, of course, that it was just the change in their dynamic that made her feel a little uncomfortable when Archie had leaned down to press his lips purposefully to her cheek. (Right?)

But she can’t deny that after reading his letter, Betty had thought maybe they would talk about something. (She doesn’t know _what_ , but something more than just the small sphere of their high-school and the drama in it, something significant _-_ just something _more_ ). His letter was the sweetest thing she had ever received.

Betty has never thought herself to be anything particularly special.

(People told her she was nice- a character trait which means nothing at all and is just a filler for people who aren’t entirely not pleasant. Some people told her she was ‘smart’, but what did that even mean, how could they know that? Sometimes people called her pretty- superficial sure, but it still kind of hurt that it was always ‘pretty’, not ‘beautiful’ or ‘gorgeous’ or ‘attractive’; just ‘pretty’, just sort of.

She was Betty Cooper the filler, Betty Cooper the helper, Betty Cooper the blank.)

Maybe that’s why when she re-read the letter, she couldn’t hold back her smile. Someone saw the big things- that she had opinions and she wanted to share them, the things she cared about loudly and publicly- but also the little things- her little habits and tendencies.

That anyone- that _Archie-_ would care enough about her to know all those things, it was sweet. It made her blush to read it, but it also turned her insides warm in the loveliest kind of way and she held the words close to her heart all day.

Betty hadn’t known Archie could be so romantic.

(A little voice whispered in her ear that whispered how _out of character it was,_ how the kind of phrasing in the letter was _familiar_ , but not from Archie’s tortured sing-writing.)

Betty dispelled those kinds of thoughts- she was being ridiculous. He had just been nervous, and _that_ was why there was a disconnect from the letter, having Archie as a friend and _dating_ Archie Andrews.

(And yet, somehow, that little voice in her head kept murmuring all the same)

-

Jughead wanted to hit his head against a wall.

Starting the day with his phone flashing with messages from an eager Archie Andrews wasn’t ideal- especially not when it was all about his amazing date with Betty Cooper. Jughead knew Archie was persistent, but luckily, he also knew his friend loathed getting up before 8 in the morning, and they didn’t share any periods until lunch.

So. Jughead could minimise his contact, at least until then.

He knew he should be happy for them- the beginning of their happily ever after and Jughead had a hand in it.

But _fuck_ , if it didn’t hurt at school that day. Sitting in English and watching Betty practically _glow_ as they discussed the book, seeing how content Betty was at lunch; the reminder that Betty was perfect, and would never be his.

Jughead just needed to learn how to see them together- he had always known it would be the two of them, so why was it so painful?

“Hey Betty, how was your highly-anticipated date last night?” Veronica asked, eyebrows raised expectantly, and Kevin grinned beside her while Jughead was suddenly enraptured by his food.

Betty slid into her seat and smiled back, “It was good.”

Their faces fell and Jughead tried not to show his sudden interest as he chanced a quick glance up at her. Her eyes caught his, holding a question unspoken, but he dropped his gaze back to the meal in front of him.

“That doesn’t sound good,” Kevin noted apprehensively.

(While neither he nor Veronica were huge fans of the complete 180 Andrews had pulled, they knew better than to weigh in if Betty was happy. She was enamoured with the _idea_ of dating Archie, if not the actual guy, but so long as she was content, so were they. If she wasn’t though… then would it be such a bad thing if they directed her attentions to her feelings for Jughead?)

Betty sighed, a little unnerved by Jughead’s non-response, “It _was_ good,” she defended.

“But?” Jughead asked, eyes still fixed on the table and talking around his food.

Instead of chiding him like she usually would, Betty focused on her response.

“I don’t know. It was just kind of… really similar to how it usually is. I thought our dynamic might have changed, especially because of what Archie wrote in his love letter, but it felt the same,” she shrugged slightly, stabbing her lunch idly with her fork.

Unbeknownst to her, Kevin and Veronica had just shared a LookTM.

“A love letter?” Kevin asked dubiously.

“From Archie Andrews?” Veronica added with scepticism. 

Betty frowned slightly, “I know, I wasn’t sure about it either. But like Jug said, he _is_ a songwriter, and it was really sweet.”

Veronica’s eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion, but she made her voice light as she requested, “Would you mind if I read it? You know I’m a sucker for romance.”

Betty fished it out of her bag (and Jughead’s heart felt annoying light at knowing she was carrying his words with her, even if she did think they were Archie’s). Veronica and Kevin pored over it and Jughead made an effort to look interested so it wouldn’t be so obvious how much he didn’t want to do with _any of this._

After she had finished reading, Veronica’s eyes jumped from Betty, Jughead and the letter before her expression set.

“That’s so cute!” Veronica gushed, even as Archie approached their table, but her unamused eyes were glaring holes in Jughead.

(She knew. _Fuck.)_

-

Jughead should have known better than to think he could get away with any of this under Veronica Lodge’s nose.

Though, if we are actually giving credit where credit is due, kudos to him for managing to avoid her the rest of the day in person and thus only had to be grilled over the phone.

“What the hell, Jones?”

Veronica didn’t wait to exchange pleasantries; she dove straight into it. Jughead would have considered not picking up the phone, but he knew that would only make it worse- and if he dealt with it now then chances were, she wouldn’t tell Betty.

“Veronica. To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?”

She completely disregarded his sarcasm and asked a question of her own, “Please tell me I’m wrong, but why did I read a love letter you wrote but Betty thinks is Archie’s today?”

Silence met her statement and she interrupted it after a few seconds.

“Let me rephrase: Jughead, why is Betty under the impression that her love letter is from Archibald Andrews rather than you?”

“Because it was signed by Archie?” Jughead answered flippantly.

“Why?” Veronica enunciated clearly.

“Because Archie got it into his head that he needed help to get Betty to say yes to a date and I accidently mentioned a love letter as a suggestion.”

“I’m hearing one plus one equals three, Jones,” Veronica said impatiently.

“He didn’t think he could write one, so he begged me to do it for him,” Jughead sighed into the phone.

“And you didn’t think that was a _bad_ idea to pass your feelings off as Archie’s?”

“I know it’s a bad idea Veronica, but what was I meant to say? _‘Sorry Archie, I can’t write a love letter to Betty for you because I’m so in love with her that it makes it hard to think straight and that could make this whole situation a little awkward’?_ That’d go down like a lead balloon.”

Veronica was quiet for a moment.

“So, you’re just not going to tell her? Their relationship will be built on a foundation of that first lie- since you think they’re ‘endgame’, then you know that at every one of those dinner-parties they host, Archie is going to be lying about it.”

Jughead heaved out an almighty exhale. “I know. But I can’t tell her now- Betty wouldn’t just let it go and she’d figure out I have feelings for her. It’d ruin her relationship with Archie and we’d never be friends again. If Archie decides to tell her, that’s his choice.”

He paused and he sensed Veronica was waiting for him to go on.

“I don’t want to lie to her. But I want her to be happy. And she will be, with Archie. If this is what it takes… then this is what I’ll do. I’ll figure out a way to be fine with it.”

“Oh, Jughead,” Veronica breathed. There was no pity in her voice, just a quiet sort of sadness for the happiness she knows Betty and Jughead could have together, even though now it felt impossible.

Jughead shrugged, even though she couldn’t see him, because it made him feel a little more like he could pretend everything was fine. Something suddenly struck him though, and he asked,

“How did you know it wasn’t Archie’s?”

Veronica laughed, “If Archie was to write anyone anything, it would definitely be a song so that he could play it for them. Love letters- not really his style.”

“How did you know I wrote it then?” Jughead wondered, curiosity overtaking him.

Veronica smiled and softly replied, “Everything about that letter Jughead; it was all you. I’ve been watching you be in love with my best friend for at least a year. Betty won’t see it maybe, but anyone who has watched the two of you in a room together would have been able to tell.”

Jughead hummed uncomprehending and Veronica took the hint.

“I think what really did it was the bit on the _‘Blue and Gold’_ \- I’m not sure Archie ever really got how big of a deal it was to Betty. You did though. You get her,” she told him simply.

“Not like Archie does,” Jughead rebutted, thinking of all the perspectives and understandings Jughead would never be able to share with Betty like Archie did. That was why they were perfect for each other after all, because they were so similar.

“Not like Archie does,” Veronica agreed, but she knew that was because Archie and Betty were each other’s best and oldest friends. Archie understood Betty how an older brother understands his younger sister- well because they grew up together, but they miss seeing so much because they don’t even realise they should be looking for it.

The line was devoid of noise for a moment before Veronica spoke up once more.

“Jughead?”

“Yeah, Veronica?”

“It was a nice letter. I think Betty really liked it.”

“I hope so,” Jughead replied, and there was nothing really left to say.

-

Jughead might have been able to avoid both Archie Andrews and Veronica Lodge in person that day, but it was more luck than by skill. Unfortunately for Jughead, Archie managed to wrangle him the next day on the way to school.

Jughead would have been impressed by Archie’s dedication if it didn’t mean that they had to have the following conversation, which pushed them further into the spiral of events and objectively made everything worse.

“Archie, you agreed. One letter, and then I was done.” Jughead pulled off his beanie to ruffle his hair as he shot an annoyed glance at his friend.

“I know, I know, but you heard Betty at lunch!” Archie was once again putting on his best impression of a lost puppy as they walked to school. “Please Jughead, I really need your help.”

“Archie, I can’t write another love letter to Betty when she thinks it’s you. Do you really want your relationship to start with lies?” He jammed his beanie further down on his head.

“I just need to make sure that she knows I like her,” Archie told his friend

“Dude, just talk to her.” Jughead was regretting having told Archie to make a gesture- Betty deserved only the best, but it seemed this was going to be an issue for Archie. “She just wants to know where your head is at.”

“I don’t know what to say! You’re so much better at the _words_ thing than me.”

“I’m hearing that this is an Archie problem, not a Jughead problem.”

“Jughead-”

“Learning how to communicate is important Arch. What kind of a friend would I be if I took that away from you?”

Jughead’s sarcasm was not unheard, but it was ignored.

“Jughead,” Archie fixed him with a pleading look, “Please?”

Jughead hates the way Archie Andrews knows all he has to do is ask for help from his friend and Jughead will give it- because he knows Archie would do the same for him.

(And he hates himself just a little bit in that moment, because he knew he had just agreed to make Betty fall in love with Archie Andrews all over again)

Jughead’s answering sigh made Archie’s irrepressible grin break through.

“Thanks Jug, I really appreciate your help with this.”

Jughead threw a half-resentful look at Archie, “I’m going to regret doing this, aren’t I?”

Archie’s laugh in response was bright against the cold of the morning and Jughead found himself smiling back.

He was reminded that his best friend might be oblivious and a jock, but there was a reason Archie Andrews and Betty Cooper were destined for each other. They were both so inherently _good_ \- they were going to be the most likeable and sociable couple in the whole of Riverdale. And Jughead- Jughead would have to learn how to be ok with that.

-

The Monday after her second date with Archie, the love letter fell out of Betty’s locker.

She had been preoccupied all morning.

A bit by Archie had mentioned on their date that he found it easier to write down his feelings than tell her them (which Betty was a little confused over since he had never had a problem with it before when they were friends, but people change and Betty supposed their relationship had as well, so maybe she didn’t know everything about Archie Andrews). Mostly though, her thoughts were distracted by her own feelings.

Archie had taken her on a picnic on the banks of Sweetwater River and by all accounts, it was delightfully romantic, especially since Archie had kissed her.

She _should_ have been overjoyed. She’d only been waiting for Archie Andrews to be interested in her since before they started school.

(So why wasn’t she more excited? Why was it that she had felt almost uncomfortable whenever the atmosphere tended towards romance? It was like seeing a colleague while you’re on vacation- a little weird, as if you had never realised the two concepts could have a crossover.)

Betty was still thinking it over the next day. It was only once she walked into school that she forcibly shook herself from her from her thoughts, and quickly her attention was overtaken by the letter.

_Dear Betty,_

_I know this might be a little weird for you, to be getting these letters, but it’s somehow easier to write it than say it to your face. It feels a little more permanent as well, and for some reason, I like the idea that you can read my feelings and be sure that I meant them._

_I had a lot of fun on Saturday, I’m glad we could do something together. Though Vegas was a little salty about not getting a walk!_

_Do you remember when we were younger, and we used to sit and play video games? You were always the best at them because you were so competitive- I’m still waiting for a rematch on Rainbow Road when you pushed me off the track. But then the two of us guys used to play games you didn’t want to play, or you didn’t know them, and you’d watch or read sitting there with us. I don’t know if I ever told you this, but some of my fondest memories were sitting on that couch with my two best friends. I wish we’d played more games together, or maybe gone outside and played Hide ‘n’ Seek or Tag or something. I just wish we had more time together- but I always feel like that when it comes to you, like eternity couldn’t be long enough._

Betty remembered the afternoons he was describing (feeling inadequate and out-of-place and _female_ in a world where that was only a limitation) and found herself wishing they had done something different. Sitting and watching them play had never been fun, but at that point her mother was getting in her ear about what a proper young lady should and should not do. Betty wished she'd had the courage to ask if they would teach her the rules so she could play, because it felt a little like that was when she had started missing out on all the fun things she was only getting to do now. Maybe if she had been more insistent, then Betty wouldn't feel like there was such an insurmountable gulf between the person she was, the person she used to be and the person she wanted to become. 

SHe shook off her dreary thoughts, and as she read the next few lines, heat rose in Betty's cheeks. 

_I can imagine you rolling your eyes right now- I’m sure this isn’t up to your writing standards for the ‘Blue and Gold’- but you’re blushing all the same. I hope I can see you after you read this and tell you how much I meant every word, but maybe it’s nicer to stand back and watch you twirl your hair and smile that truthful smile as if you can’t believe anyone would ever think of you like that._

_You really have no idea the affect you have on everyone (on me). You’re smart, funny, understand everyone but never yourself, and more gorgeous than I can put into words- especially when you’re near me because sometimes you make it hard for me to make any thoughts coherent._

_It sounds so generic, I know. It feels wrong to bring you down to these words that we just throw around. But there is so much meaning behind these common platitudes._

_When I say you’re smart, I don’t mean you do well on a test. I mean you read, more than anyone I’ve ever met, and you learn anything you can and then you understand it, you talk about it, you share the knowledge. You leap from one idea to another and back again a thousand times, and it’s a little bit awe-inspiring to see you do it. I don’t think anyone quite thinks the way you do and that’s what makes you even more brilliant._

_You’re funny because you make jokes wherever you can and your sarcasm is almost unparalleled, but also because you try to make your friends laugh whenever you can, even if it makes you look a little silly. When I’m with you, I think I laugh more than I do with anyone or anywhere else._

_I’m amazed by the intuition you can have about everyone else, but as soon as you look inwards, it’s like you’re looking through a magnifying glass at the tiniest part of everything. Somehow, you don’t see the way people adore you, the people who want only to help you, all the people who love you. It’s cute, but sometimes I really want to just grab you and tell you that we care, and that’s why we’re not going to let you work yourself into the ground._

_I can’t think of a way to tell you how beautiful you are that I’m sure you wouldn’t have already heard. And I don’t just mean it in the way your features are aligned from your genetics, though you are as classically beautiful as the women of the silver screen. I mean the way you just shine Betty, from the inside out, and the way everything about you is just so good and bright it makes me feel warm._

_This might seem like an overload, so I’m sorry, but this was everything I wanted to tell you on the weekend. I might not have said it to you- I couldn’t find the right moment, the right words to say- but I tried to show you._

_I hope you enjoyed the date and would be up for a repeat some time soon? Let me know._

_Love,_

_Archie_

Betty looked up from the letter- internally screaming a little from how sweet all of it was, but her suspicions were aroused. There was something not quite right about all this.

-

Jughead would like to say he didn’t lie. He did have fun on Saturday, he met up with Betty on the weekend at Pop’s so she could share all her secrets over burgers and fries. Everything he wrote about his feelings was honest and all the things that eluded to Archie and Betty’s date wasn’t _expressly_ said.

Morally, it was a grey area. Absolutely lies by omission, but not technically outright untruths.

Jughead didn’t think he had the high ground, but as much as he wanted to feel bad for deceiving Betty (and he did- God, how he did feel bad), he also felt a little guilty for not feeling as horrible as he should. Because writing it all down was therapeutic, and it was nice that telling Betty his feelings could somehow help Betty find her future happiness with Archie.

He was sitting in the _‘Blue and Gold’_ , desperately finishing the article he was meant to write over the weekend but passed up for spilling his guts on paper, when Betty appeared, brandishing a familiar piece of paper.

“Hey Betts,” he said, trying not to fixate on the letter, “What’s going on?”

“I don’t think it’s Archie writing these love letters,” she declared.

Jughead swears his heart stopped beating.

Weakly, he choked out, “What?”

“At the very least, he’s got an editor. But everything about these…” she trailed off, and then jabbed at a sentence, reading aloud, “See like this: ‘ _I can’t think of a way to tell you how beautiful you are…. And I don’t just mean it in the way your features are aligned from your genetics,’.”_

She gave him a victorious look and Jughead raised an eyebrow.

“Archie wouldn’t say something like that. I don’t know! There’s just something about it that feels _off,_ you know?”

Jughead winced a little internally- admittedly, he hadn’t been as stringent with his editing this time- and berated himself beforehand for what he was about to say.

“Well if it’s not Archie then why does it have his name? I mean, who would write a love letter and not take credit for it?”

Betty shrugged, ponytail swinging and eyes alight. “I don’t know. That’s why I need your help to investigate it!”

Ever since Betty restarted the _‘Blue and Gold’,_ she had chased at least a dozen stories down with her investigative journalism sleuthing skills. And every time without fail, even if he hadn’t one hundred percent agreed with her theories, Jughead would back Betty up and support her in her (sometimes less-than-legal) intelligence-gathering methods.

This one though, this was something Jughead wasn’t going to help with. When he wrote that letter, Jughead had realised something- it was a bitter pill to swallow, but he’d learn to deal with it.

“You will help me, right Jug?”

He shrugged as he slung his bag over his shoulder, avoiding Betty’s eyes. “Sorry Betts. I think it’s a dead end. I’ve got a heap of homework as well- why don’t you talk to Archie?”

Jughead practically sprinted out of the office, and Betty tried to follow him out into the hallway, except she was intercepted by one Archie Andrews.

“Hey Betty,” he grinned, and Betty smiled in response, eyes still searching for Jughead in the crowd.

“Hey Arch. Have you seen Jughead?”

“Not this morning. Why do you ask?” Archie looked concerned and Betty hastened to reassure him.

“No reason, we were just working on some stuff for _‘Blue and Gold’.”_

Unbeknownst to either of them, Jughead was watching their interaction, hidden in the masses of the hallway. When he was writing the letter, Jughead realised he had been trying to tell himself he would be fine with being so close to the fairy tale romance of Archie and Betty.

But now he knew- he couldn’t do it. Much as he wished he wasn’t that selfish, seeing them together hurt. Jughead needed space. He would help Archie a little more and then he would fade into the background again.

Betty wouldn’t miss him, and neither would Archie. Everything Jughead touched turned to shit, and if there was one thing he wasn’t going to ruin, it was this. Betty deserved better than that and so did his best friend.

Jughead Jones would be an observer once again, and no one would even notice he was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys think!

Jughead didn’t realise how much he had grown to rely on his friends (on _Betty_ ) until he was distancing himself from them. He had no idea how much he’d miss Kevin’s cutting social commentary or Archie’s good-natured and optimistic outlook. 

(He knew a little of how much it was going to feel like he was winded whenever he saw Betty, but that doesn’t mean Jughead was anywhere near ready for it. It was so much worse than he could have anticipated; to rip his eyes away from her when they lingered; how tired he would get from avoiding her; how much it would just _hurt_ to know she would be better off without him.)

Archie didn’t really notice at first because he knew that Jughead sometimes fell off the grid for a bit, but Veronica noticed immediately. She didn’t say anything, and Jughead was grateful- without Betty, he was realising how much he valued Veronica Lodge’s friendship; it was nice to know he had someone in his corner.

Jughead had long since memorised Betty’s schedule, so it was a matter of slipping quickly between classes and sending her his articles for the paper, spending lunch in the library with his music blasting loud and trying to get lost in the pages of his book.

One thing Jughead did find he could fall into as a distraction was the one thing that made everything worse- but writing had always been his crutch and if he couldn’t use it now, then Jughead was going to go out of his mind.

Everything he wanted to say to Betty he poured into his letters- all the ones he would never send and sat in a shoebox under his bed with all the unedited ones, messy and with majority of it crossed out.

Some of them were long and flowing, those were the ones he wrote when his mind wandered into the past and he couldn’t help himself but recount the millions of moments that made him fall in love with her.

Some were just sentences- ones he couldn’t ever imagine telling her. Sentences like _if you were my destruction and devastation, I would go smiling if I could have just a moment more with you_ or _there shouldn’t be one universe where you don’t get what you want Betty Cooper, because you deserve that happy ending more than anyone I know._

Most of them though, were the things that made his heart hurt because he could tell her them. Those long paragraphs filled pages and pages; Jughead knew it probably wouldn’t matter to Betty, but he wished he could show them to her all the same.

_Dear Betty,_

_I finished reading ‘Beloved’ by Toni Morrison today- I know it’s your favourite, you told me when you gave it to me for my birthday because I asked for a book you loved. (I’ve got so many questions I want to ask you, so many parts where I wanted to turn to you to see your face when I told you where I was up to. I think I found little parts of you in those pages- ~~though it doesn’t compare to actually talking to you, it makes it a little easier~~. I played a little game, underlining words and phrases that I thought were like you and where I could see you shining through and understand why you liked it so much.) I loved it; ~~almost as much as I love you~~ )._

_Dear Betty,_

_I saw you at cheer practice today. I love the way you feel the music and mouth the words as you do the routine. I know you don’t think you have a good singing voice, but I practically had to force myself not to get close enough to hear if you were humming or singing along as well. Did you know you do this little twirl with your hands after you flick your hair? It’s really cute Betty Cooper, damn near as cute as the face you make when you realise you did it and you scrunch up your nose trying to figure out why._

_Dear Betty,_

_We were reading something in class today and the teacher brought up this quote by Margaret Atwood from ‘The Robber Bride’. When I heard it, I immediately wanted to hear what you thought, though I’m pretty sure you’d love it. (As soon as I read it, I remembered you saying something similar, quoting Sylvia Plath, about women when everyone was chasing a Valentine’s Day Dance date- and convinced me to come to protest gender roles and stood with me all night in that crowded gym and I could almost imagine you were there with me because you wanted to be.) You’d make a kick-ass reference to it in your next piece for the ‘Blue and Gold’ and probably hang it up in your room and every time you saw it, that fire would ignite in your eyes for justice. You'd rant to me about how much the patriarchy sucks and I'd get pissed as well- because you'd make it all so much more real- and I'd hate that the guys at our school don't get it, and I'd be standing there with you every time you quoted it because I'd hate to miss even a moment of you looking so fierce and ready to fight for what's right._

_~~It resounded a little with me because, on its most basic level that I can personally attach my experiences as a white male to, it’s about the fact that we’re always putting on a show for whoever might be watching, never just being ourselves. But when I’m with you, I don’t feel so self-conscious, and I think love might be in noticing the little things we do when we think no one else is watching.~~ _

_Dear Betty_

_Sometimes when I read your work or hear you talk or look at you, all I can think is how incredible you are. I don’t think you realise all the things you could do, or how blessed I know I am to be able to say I knew you way back when, after you go on and change the world. ~~Because whatever you do, whether you go to college and win Pulitzers for your journalism or you settle down right after school with Archie and raise your kids, you’re going to be making the world better, a more Betty Cooper like place. (Is it selfish of me to hope you go to university? You just have so much talent, I can’t wait to see what you do with it.)~~ _

On and on they went. Everything heartfelt and entirely true, thoughts directly from his stream of consciousness. Jughead couldn’t ever tell her this coming from Archie- not when she was already suspicious- but sometimes it all a little easier to bear.

Jughead knew Betty was trying to corner and talk to him; he didn’t know what he’d say if she did catch him.

So he really fucking hopes she doesn’t catch him.

(Especially if Veronica spills the beans or- God forbid- Betty puts two and two together because Jughead was being too obvious with his censored letters, because then Jughead would really be fucked.)

-

Betty didn’t know what was going on, but she didn’t like it.

Kevin was acting shady, Veronica had a secret, Archie was lying to her and Jughead was avoiding her.

She didn’t know what was going on with Veronica and Kevin, especially since whenever she talked to them about Archie, all she got were shrugs and the two exchanging meaningful glances. Betty would be more concerned, but her worries were mostly focused on Archie and Jughead.

Things with Archie were… awkward. Betty didn’t know what had happened to her- everything she had ever been waiting for, but now she had it… she wasn’t happy. It was a tough realisation to have that maybe she and Archie weren’t meant to be- that maybe Betty hadn’t ever really been attracted to him, but rather the ideal life that he represented.

Betty had changed from the person she used to be, she didn’t want the picket fence, all-American lifestyle anymore. But this led to a full-on spiral of what she _did_ want.

It had taken quite a few nights of soul searching, sitting at Pop’s and staring out the window, contemplating her life and all the things in the universe, before Betty could admit that Archie was her best friend from childhood and nothing more.

They were good friends, sure, but they didn’t _mesh_ well as a couple- too many differences in values, in the reasons that they both acted the way they did. And Betty finally confessed to herself that Archie wasn’t the partner she needed- he didn’t make her feel safe, or like she was home, or extraordinarily excited to spend any time with him because as long as she was with him, any task was fun. She just didn’t feel that way.

The positive side to all this was that she was finally enjoying the closeness of the relationship they had lost when Betty had put Archie up on that pedestal all those years ago. She hadn’t realised how much she had missed her best friend.

Unfortunately, Betty hadn’t actually had a conversation to convey any of this to Archie- mostly because she didn’t want to hurt him and lose the confidence and rapport they had rebuilt, even if for Betty it felt more like friends than anything else.

(A little bit because, even though she knew how wrong it was, she liked getting the letters. They might not be from Archie- and she couldn’t figure out who they were from which was _infuriating-_ but it didn’t make them any less thoughtful or flattering. Though she had noticed lately they were less heartfelt- it felt more like right before the writer was going to say anything extraordinarily profound or identity-revealing, they cut themselves off. Betty couldn’t help but wonder _why._ )

Which, on the note of investigating the letters and their author, Betty was still confused about why Jughead was avoiding her. They might have been in the same room since she asked him to help her in the ‘ _Blue and Gold’_ office, but Jughead had been vacant, giving short replies and slipping away as soon as possible.

In all honesty, Betty had lost more sleep over the possible reasons he could be drifting from her than any over Archie and the future of their relationship. Maybe it was because Betty hadn’t realised how much she looked forward to talking to Jughead, their light banter and the conversation with someone who just _got_ her _._ She forgot how empty her life felt without Jughead, how much the hole of a sardonic writer with a beanie and a coffee addiction left a gaping space in her life.

(Maybe it was because she had been subtly noticing for _years_ as Jughead grew more and more handsome; how her breath caught when he got just a little too close; or shot her one of his blinding grins after reading her work or hearing one of her sarcastic barbs and she was so caught off guard that a blush rose to her cheeks.

Maybe it was because he was the only one she wanted to tell _everything_ to, because she knew he would quote some stupid Tarantino movie at her to make her laugh. And then she would rebut that Tarantino took too much credit and that Sally Menke was the real genius, shooting him a wink as she listed the attributes of having a good editor and Jughead would laugh with her before agreeing slyly that “a writer is nothing without a good editor” and Betty would deny that she was blushing at his subtle compliment.

Maybe it was that Betty knew what she wanted, but it had taken a few days to realise how much she wanted it but now the idiot she was in love with was avoiding her, _and she didn’t know why-)_

Betty might love getting the love letters, but she would pass up all of them and any leads to whoever might be writing them if it meant that Jughead would talk to her again.

-

“Here you go,” Jughead passed the letter to Archie- heavily censored, with anything that could give him away sitting in that box in his trailer.

“Thank you Jughead. Betty really loves these, I don’t know how to thank you enough.”

“It’s fine Arch. Are we good? ‘Cause I’ve got to get to class,” Jughead waved his hand in the direction of school.

“Uh, yeah, I guess. Are you alright though? You haven’t been eating lunch with us the last week or so.”

Archie was remembering the comments Betty had made out Jughead avoiding them, and while he hadn’t put much stock in it at the time, looking at his best friend now, he was a little worried. Jughead wasn’t meeting his eye and seemed to be on edge, very eager to get away from this conversation.

“I’ve been busy, you know, homework and assignments and all.”

Once again, the vague excuses set off alarm bells in Archie’s head. He might have been a little absent the last few weeks. He decided to test his theory.

“Are you avoiding us?”

“Can we not talk about this Arch?” Jughead glanced away, hands itching to touch his beanie but not wanting to show weakness, as he shifted from foot to foot.

“What’s going on man? Did I do something?”

“You didn’t do anything. Don’t worry about it,” Jughead replied shortly.

Archie was like a bloodhound though, and kept pursuing it, “What happened? Is it to do with me or Betty or something? Is there something we can do?”

“No, Archie, you guys didn’t do anything. You can’t help it!” Jughead let out a slightly bitter laugh, “It’s just- something I thought I could learn to live with, but I can’t. So I’m sorry, but I just need to keep my distance.”

Archie looked at him, puzzled and Jughead cleared his throat, making to leave as he tried to casually say,

“Don’t tell Betty about this, alright?”

“Why would-” Archie’s brain worked overtime, until it landed solidly on the letter in his hand. He felt his stomach drop out as he looked up at Jughead, who still wasn’t meeting his eye.

“Jug, are you in love with Betty?”

It was suddenly so obvious. Jughead’s want for Betty to have all that she deserved but being reluctant to write the letters as Archie- of course he wouldn’t want someone else taking credit for his feelings for Betty.

Jughead still didn’t respond.

“I’m so sorry Jughead. If I’d realised, I never would have-”

“It doesn’t matter Archie,” Jughead interrupted, “You guys are together, that’s what matters.”

“But-”

“No. No what-ifs. Betty always would have ended up with you, I shouldn’t kid myself any other way.”

Jughead’s tone told Archie not to say the words practically falling off his tongue- that he would step aside so Jughead could confess to Betty, so the two could be happy. Jughead had made up his mind, and Archie didn’t know how to change it without sticking his foot in it even more.

Instead, he asked

“Who else knows?”

“Kevin. Veronica has been trying to strong-arm me into confessing for ages. Josie told me to just ask Betty out. Cheryl made a comment about Betty being with a hobo, so she might have an inkling. I think Reggie knows, he laid off hitting on her and told me to ‘shoot my shot’. Probably most of our class have figured it out.”

“Jesus Jug. How long? Why haven’t you told her?”

“I think at least since she invited me to join the _‘Blue and Gold’,_ but I didn’t realise it for a few months. And you know why.” Jughead sighed, shaking his head slightly. “But you get it now. That’s the last letter Andrews, everything else is on you.”

Jughead turned to leave again but Archie couldn’t restrain himself.

“I’m sorry Jughead.”

All the stuff he wanted to say about talking to Betty and the kind of guy she deserved- a guy who was enamoured with her like Jughead was- vanished as he saw the resigned look in Jughead’s eyes. He had given up, and Archie couldn’t make him fight for Betty with all the words in the world.

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.”

Jughead’s parting smile looked more sad than anything else, and Archie Andrews vowed to make it up to his best friend- for all the pain in his voice, for all the adoring glances Archie had forgotten or disregarded and hidden the truth for that much longer.

-

“Veronica? Can we talk?”

Archie was nervous. He knew that Veronica liked him as a person, but highly doubted him as a partner for Betty- and clearly for good reason. He just hoped she would see he was here as Betty _and_ Jughead’s friend, and that he wanted to help them.

Veronica’s eyebrows kicked up, but otherwise remained impartial. “Archibald. This is a surprise. How can I help you?”

“I just found out that Jughead is in love with Betty.”

Veronica watched him closely. Her eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion.

“He told me you knew, so I assume you know about the love letters as well?”

Archie winced at the memory of his past _stupid_ self, trying to impress Betty. He should have known better- but he couldn’t change it now, only try to rectify his mistakes.

Amusement coloured her features, “I heard about it. Quite a bind you’re in there Andrews.”

“I want to help get them together, especially since I’ve been such a dense idiot. Betty and I don’t really work- and if Jughead’s in love with her…”

Archie paused, considering all his memories with this new information under advisement and a broad smile blossomed across his face

“I think they’d be great together. And I know that since you’re Veronica Lodge, you have plan. So let’s hear it.”

Veronica grinned in response- Archie was obviously sincere, and it would be a lot easier not having to wait out the end of their relationship (or do any strategic mentioning to encourage the two to talk out their issues and speed up the process). She gesuted to the seat across from her and he slipped into it, relieved.

“Well first, you should probably know the communication between me and Jughead.”

She showed him her messages, periodic texts like _Jughead Jones, so help me God, if you don’t get your head out of your ass I will-_ followed by a list of expletives, that made Archie laugh loudly.

(And if Veronica thought Archie looked quite handsome when he was smiling and wanting to help her, well, it was all fair in love and war, since Archie thought Veronica was rather beautiful when she was scheming)

-

Betty had been considering the facts for a while, and when she confronted Veronica, she was fairly certain she knew what was happening. (And maybe Betty was just a little bit desperate, because she was tired of trying to figure out what she had done wrong);

“Is Jughead avoiding me?”

Veronica sent her a regretful look and Betty tried not to reel at the information that her assumption was correct (because she had been expecting it but _dammit_ it still hurt)

“Do you know _why_ he’s avoiding me?”

“Sorry Betty. It’s not my place to say,” Veronica responded, looking sorry but also with a little fire of _something_ in her eyes, as if she hated not interfering here.

“So you do know then?”

Veronica’s tacit silence was answer enough.

“Can- can you at least tell me _why_ he won’t tell me?” Betty hated the way her voice quavered there- she had wanted it to come out strong and firm, but instead it sounded weak.

Veronica shrugged helplessly, eyebrows creasing. “I’m so sorry B.”

She opened her arms and Betty took the hug, trying to control the tears that suddenly sprung to her eyes and the lump in her throat.

As Betty blinked back tears and sniffled slightly, Veronica Lodge was planning war. Finally, _finally,_ these idiots were _so close_ and if they messed their relationship up now, Veronica was going to lose it.

She was going to _make sure_ that Betty and Jughead at least got a shot at their happy ending, or her name wasn’t Veronica Lodge.

-

The final date in the courtship of Betty Cooper and Archie Andrews was a classic- following a quick burger at Pop’s, they made their way to the Twilight Drive-In cinema.

(And who knows how different our story would have been if Jughead hadn’t been working to get away from the trailer and a concerned Jellybean who was sick of her brother moping but didn’t know how to help. Fortunately, Jellybean _was_ worried, and she _did_ pester her brother, so Jughead was in the projection booth that night.

Though perhaps Jellybean’s liaison with Veronica was more to blame here than Fate, because the plans Veronica had in the works were something to behold and definitely required back-up.)

When Jughead saw them, he would be lying if he said he didn’t consider walking out of there with the projector running, pulling a Cinema Paradiso and hoping the place didn’t catch on fire.

Unfortunately, he really needed his job, so he screwed up his courage and decided just to deal with it- i.e. hide in the projection booth the entire time. It’s not particularly brave or daring, but Jughead has never claimed to be either of those things.

Betty, meanwhile, had decided that enough was enough. She couldn’t keep dating Archie and potentially leading him on- she was going to tell him how she felt, tonight.

Archie, on the other hand, was trying to figure out a way to bring up the love letters- having given her the last one that night- and Jughead with Betty but not ruin any of Veronica’s careful planning. 

(Because she might have back-up plans to cover them all getting fucked six ways to Sunday, but in none of them was Archie simply _blurting out_ the facts. This matter required _finesse._

Archie had learnt in a very short time scheming with Veronica Lodge that she was whip-smart and was not willing to take any shit, so he best not mess anything up. He’d also noticed that she was gorgeous and absolutely his type and Archie might have a little bit of a crush on her, which was another good motivator to talk to Betty.)

So, it was a bit of a tense atmosphere at the intermission.

Archie told Betty he was going to the bathroom as he slipped off to meet with Veronica and discuss logistics. Betty decided to go for a quick wander to stretch her legs before coming back to the car for the second half.

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, only time and the narrator will tell), Jughead had the same idea. As soon as he saw her, Jughead spun on his heel and started heading back to the booth, picking his way through the parked cars- but Betty saw him, and fire ignited in her veins.

_Oh no. He wasn’t getting away that easily after avoiding her for a week._

“Jug. Jughead!” Betty called, jogging to catch up with him- and she could swear he lengthened his strides, “Juggie!”

At that, Jughead slowed his pace- this was _Betty._ She deserved an explanation, but since he couldn’t really give her one of those, at least he could give her a little closure.

“Hey, Jughead! Working tonight?”

“Yeah, I should probably head back to the booth,” he stuck a thumb over his shoulder.

Betty’s brow creased and she tried not to show how hurt she was, “Of course! I don’t want to keep you- it’s just that this is the most I’ve seen you this week…”

She hoped he would say something, anything- the Jughead she knew would send her an apologetic sort of grin, or quip something about his ‘packed social life’, or furrow his brows a little and say that he missed her.

(He was always saying little things like that which made her blush or feel better and remind Betty that she was nowhere near as alone as she might feel.)

But this time, Jughead looked away and merely said, “Yeah, I guess it is.”

The silence between them stretched, awkward, stilted and unfamiliar.

Everything in Jughead screamed at him to fill it, to tell her everything, apologise and wish her and Archie the best. But he couldn’t- he should just cut the ties now, so that he stopped dragging down everyone else. He opened his mouth to say something- he doesn’t really know _what,_ just something- when Betty beats him to it.

(She always was competitive, it was just one if the things, apart from _everything about her,_ that made him fall in love with her.)

“Why are you avoiding me, Jughead?”

Betty was just trying to process. It hurt, _so much-_ and she knew it hurt a lot more than if it had been Veronica or Kevin or even Archie, for reasons she wasn’t willing to examine at this very moment- to be so close to her friend and yet never have felt so far away.

Jughead was doesn’t know what he would have said then- all he really knew was that Betty looked upset, and he hated it when she was upset. But he couldn’t do anything, it had to be done, for the sake of future Betty’s happiness.

Perhaps it was lucky then, that Fate intervened before Jughead could do something they’d both regret.

“Archie?”

“Veronica?”

Veronica and Archie appeared, arm-in-arm, from behind one of the parked cars, obviously in an intense discussion. When the pair heard Betty and Jughead though, they immediately broke apart.

“What’re you guys doing?” Betty asked, confusion written all over her face.

Jughead echoed that sentiment, but a horrid thought rose in him- one that made him livid to think about someone doing to Betty; if Archie Andrews thought he could get away with cheating on Betty and Jughead wouldn’t do anything, he was sorely mistaken.

As Archie and Veronica, almost synchronised, starting spewing contradicting excuses, the conclusion that Jughead had leaped to seemed to make its way into Betty’s mind. He watched as her features held warring emotions, disbelief and hurt (and was that relief? Surely not).

Meanwhile, Betty’s best friend and her boyfriend were still talking,

“-for a project and I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you-”

“-I completely spaced and so I was trying to find Archie to ask about the-”

Almost simultaneously though, they noticed Betty’s expression and practically held their breath.

“I- I need to go, I’m sorry,” Betty got out before she disappeared, head cast down as she wound through the cars and people.

“Wait, Betty!” Veronica followed in the wake of her best friend, leaving the two boys behind. 

(Betty didn’t really get spitting mad at first. She would sit on it and simmer and think about it until she reached fever-pitch- and _then_ she would start yelling. Jughead would send his condolences, but he wasn’t sure they’d deserve them.

Jughead might have hurt Betty, but not like this. Never like this.)

But as he thought about it, the less it made sense. Archie wouldn’t have put so much effort in trying to impress Betty if he was just going to cheat on her and Veronica definitely knew how long Betty had been waiting for this.

He forced himself to take a breath- _he knew he didn’t have the right to be angry since Archie was her soulmate, but Jughead Jones would be damned if anyone made Betty Cooper feel anything short of magnificent._

“Are you and Veronica-”

“No!” Archie interrupted, horrified by the implications.

(Not by the idea of dating Veronica, but by betraying Betty’s trust like that- if this experience had taught Archie anything, it was how much he valued Betty as a friend and was desperate not to screw it up).

It hurt Jughead to say it, but he still had to ask 

“Do you still like Betty?”

“Of course I like her, b-”

Jughead cut Archie off, he didn’t need to hear his best friend wax poetic about the girl he was in love with (Jughead did plenty enough of that for the both of them, obviously).

“And you want to fix your relationship with her?”

“Yeah, I do, but… Jughead you should really talk to-” 

“I’ll help you with Betty, and then I’m done. No more letters, no more talking or awkward run-ins. I’ll leave the two of you alone.”

“Jug, that’s not-”

“Do you want my help or not, Arch?” Jughead bit out, swinging to face him.

“I want you to talk to Betty! You need to tell her that you’re in love with her.”

“Yeah, well, she’s in love with you, so it doesn’t matter. You guys were always going to end up with each other, this is just a bump in the road. Come on, she’ll be heading back to her house. You should be there to meet her.”

(Unfortunately for Jughead's plan, they weren't the first people to arrive at Betty's house that night- not even the first from the Jones family, but that comes in later.) 

Jughead tried to tamp down the flare of pain in his gut.

He wasn’t going to let Betty get hurt by the idiocy of Archie Andrews. Not again.

Just one last time, Jughead would give Archie his words to make Betty Cooper fall in love with him, to ensure they would have their perfect happiness.

(And maybe, just maybe he could be a part of Betty’s future, if only for a moment)

And then he was done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The quote Jughead mentions in his love letter is this one by Margaret Atwood: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/329778-male-fantasies-male-fantasies-is-everything-run-by-male-fantasies
> 
> (I wish I could have done it justice, but I did the best I could for this context!)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm torn over this. I don't think it's great, but I've done my best for now and I might rewrite it later if I have time

Betty wasn’t angry- she was just confused.

Ok. Maybe she was a little pissed at first- getting cheated on was like a kick in the guts.

(Because don’t we all constantly have it on repeat that _you’re not good enough, you should try harder, people don’t want you here, they’d replace you in an instant_ and then it’s proven _true?_ Yeah, it hurts.)

But Betty took a moment- or five. She took some deep breaths as she walked briskly and settled into her thoughts.

It didn’t take long for Betty to sort out her feelings. It wasn’t that she wasn’t jealous or hurt from romantic interest in Archie. It was more _offended_ that Archie had lied about where he was going and didn’t seem to trust her.

Upon further thought, Betty also came to the conclusion she may have been slightly hasty in her assumptions- as a journalist, she had to try and look for the facts to make an objective opinion. Admittedly, it was a little easier since she was no longer blinded by admiration for Archie, but when she properly thought it through, she couldn’t reconcile the idea that Archie or Veronica would do that to her. She didn’t know why they _were_ together, but with the gift of hindsight, Betty doubted it had anything to do with their relationship or Archie being unfaithful to her.

It was merely a misunderstanding. One that she was going to have to apologise for, Betty realised, internally groaning as she breezed down the streets of Riverdale, before she broke up with Archie and suggest they were better as friends. _Great. That wasn’t going to be_ awkward _. At all._

Betty couldn’t help her mind wandering, even though she knew she shouldn’t let it, to Jughead. He had been distant with her, but he had greeted Archie and Veronica fairly normally (or as normally as the situation could have called for). When the two started making excuses, it looked like he was almost going to share an eyeroll with her, to laugh at the ridiculousness of their best friends. Instead, he caught himself and rolled his eyes at the ground.

And when the most obvious possibility seemed to rise to Jughead’s mind, Betty could have sworn he appeared to be ready to come to blows. Is it bad that Betty hoped he had been a little enraged, because then it maybe meant he still cared about her? Despite her conversation with him, she was no closer to understanding what she had done that Jughead was avoiding her.

It had been so sudden- they had been as close as ever one week, and the next it felt like Jughead could barely stand to breathe the same air as her. What about her was so horrible about her that it had turned her best friend away from her? Betty just wished she knew _why_.

_There was no point in dwelling over the unknown though_ , Betty assured herself and tried to focus on anything else. Her attention fell to the pain in her feet and she sighed, pausing her swift gait as a wicked idea (for Alice Cooper standards anyway) whipped through her. Betty half leaned over and hopped on one leg while she took off her shoes, hanging them off her forefinger and wiggling her toes as she set back off down the street.

It really was the little things in life- Betty found herself grinning into the night, the crisp air brushing her face, with the smell of rain in the wind and her toes hitting the cool pavement. A pleasant numbness settled in her toes, fingers and nose and she cast her eyes around, taking in the familiar houses, the consistent streetlamps and rows of white fences.

Sometimes, Betty felt a little amazed at the love to be found in Riverdale- she knew that in most houses, there would be families, of all shapes, sizes and types, but the love that made families was present in all of them. All of these places held memories, every house had stories to tell, practically inscribed into the walls- sometimes Betty wondered what it would be like to hear them, if she would ever have the time to tell the stories of all those people.

(Sometimes Betty wondered, as she looked into all those homes with golden lights glowing and people laughing, what it would be like to be a part of a family where there was no pretending, where love didn’t have to feel so conditional, exacting, _suffocating.)_

Other times, all Betty could feel was confined in Riverdale. It was all the same, all ordinary- she was so sick of being in the same place. She wanted to see the world, she wanted to learn and be amazed and meet people and be _more_ than just a small town that so many people would never hear of.

On nights like these, she felt both in equal measures- the wanderlust to leave and never come back, the wish to live in Riverdale for eternity and know it all as well as the back of her own hand.

(Maybe they weren’t really conflicting desires, but just two sides of the same coin, the want to know what it was like to feel love; to be loved and to love in return, in equal measures.)

Betty tilted her face up to the sky, her eyes tracing the stars and their constellations- she didn’t really know very many, but she could remember a few from a mythology book she had borrowed when she was eight. She found Andromeda and then Cassiope- mother so proud of her daughter that she had boasted of her beauty and angered the gods, bringing destruction on their city, or so the tale went.

Betty wondered what it would be like to be loved like that.

She wondered if the person who wrote the love letters to her could fathom it.

(She wondered if Jughead could imagine ever loving someone like that- to the point of destruction. Betty wondered if he could imagine ever loving _her_ like that- even as a friend, because Jughead clearly seemed to think her as barely that.)

Betty dragged her attention down from the stars- it seemed not even looking to the heavens would clear her dreary thoughts- and the gathering clouds did little for her confidence in fate. There was a finality in the air, and Betty drew her arms around her, unconsciously fingering the page Archie had given her at the start of their date.

Curiosity ate away at her and her hands itched for the letter- when they broke up officially, probably tomorrow or in a few days, that would make this the last letter. Unless the writer decided to keep sending them, though Betty doubted it, this was the last declaration of love Betty was to get- at least for the foreseeable future.

A mixture of moonlight- though half obscured by grey clouds skimming across the dark sky- and golden streetlights illuminated the script, and Betty drew a deep breath, trying to ignore the slight tremble in her hands. She shouldn’t be so nervous- and yet, here she was, deliberately unfolding the page and wandering (perhaps trying to draw out her walk, just so she wouldn’t have to go home) aimlessly as her eyes scanned slowly along the lines.

_Dear Betty,_

_You used to wear this shirt with a sunflower on it practically every second day in third grade. I remember because I thought it was fitting, since sunflowers are such warm flowers and you were like sunshine personified_.

_Of course, then we got older and you stopped wearing the shirt. I think your mom donated it or threw it out, but you were so devastated that all you would draw in art was sunflowers. You still do it too- in your notes, I’ve seen you doodle in the margins, but only ever sunflowers. I wonder if you remember why you do that, or if it’s just one of those things you can’t even recall why you do it, but you’ve done it as long as you can remember._

_There’s a lot of little things like that. Somehow they all just accumulated, and it took a while for me to realise why I didn’t want to stop learning all those little things; why I couldn’t understand how anyone else didn’t see and appreciate how awesome you are; why I couldn’t help but miss you in every part of my life where you weren’t._

_But this isn’t about me. The reason I started writing these letters was to make sure someone told you how brilliant you are_

_You’re wonderful in all the ways no one ever tells you to look for- fiercely independent and bold like a Friday night, full of possibility like a day in the hours before dawn paints the sky, peaceful like wandering along the shore at twilight, waves lapping in and out as the only movement._

_I don’t believe in magic- except for one kind that is- but I think if I did, you’d be it._

_I think you could be anything you wanted to._

_Love,_

_Archie_

Even if she could tell there was so much left unsaid in the letter, between lines she couldn’t see, under the light of the moon, Betty Cooper smiled.

And the possibility that maybe, just maybe, everything would be alright, seemed like it was within reach.

(If only Jughead Jones could ever care for her like the writer of those letters did.)

-

When Betty left the Drive-in, Veronica knew she was going to have to use her very _last_ back-up plan- it involved forcing the two idiots to face their issues head-on and she had very little faith left in either of them to just _talk about it._

All her other plans took a more subtle approach, but desperate times call for desperate measures and Veronica Lodge prided herself on staying calm in the most hopeless situations. So she made a phone call.

Jellybean prided herself on knowing where to draw boundaries- when you lived in a trailer, privacy was hard to come by. She knew Jughead loved her, but everyone needed space, so she tried not to prod in places where she knew Jughead kept his stuff.

This sort of restraint didn’t translate to situations like these though. Jughead had been sad and lying about it for weeks and Jellybean was sick of it- he needed to get his head out of his ass, and when Veronica offered a solution… well, Jellybean wasn’t objecting.

Her big brother was predictable, much as he liked to give off the ‘ _mysterious’_ vibe, he was as consistent as a train timetable. So, finding his box of letters was a piece of cake- under the bed in an ‘inconspicuous’ shoe box.

Jellybean didn’t read them, much as she wanted to, instead just gathering all the scrap pieces from half-finished letters and calling Veronica back.

She could only hope Betty wasn’t as stupid as Jughead.

-

Betty arrived home to a darkened house- she quietly blessed her luck that both her parents were out at a Journalism conference and that Polly decided not to come home from college for the weekend. It meant that she wouldn’t have to answer any invasive questions, with the added bonus of not having to try and sneak food upstairs, she could just carry it up.

But her mind was quickly torn from these thoughts when she noticed a shoe box sitting on her front doorstep. She mounted the stairs and approached the box with caution, plucking the note (which simply read ‘ _Betty’)_ from the top. With some suspicion, she picked it up and slid the lid off to reveal it to be full of papers.

Curiosity burned inside her as her eye caught on a familiar looking script.

She recognised some of it; it was the love letter she’d just read… but not quite, it was so different. 

_Dear Betty,_

_You used to wear this shirt with a sunflower on it practically every second day in third grade. I remember because I thought it was fitting, since sunflowers are such warm flowers and you were like sunshine personified_. _~~Before I knew about Icarus and what happens when you fly too close to the sun, I had already cast you as the architect in my destruction, but the fault can only lay at my hands- because oh, how it felt for those few seconds when I flew.~~ _

_Of course, then we got older and you stopped wearing the shirt. I think your mom donated it or threw it out, but you were so devastated that all you would draw in art was sunflowers ~~. I hate how your mom did that and how you blamed yourself for not being good enough. I hate that she ever made you feel like you had to change, you deserve better.~~ You still do it too- in your notes, I’ve seen you doodle in the margins, but only ever sunflowers. I wonder if you remember why you do that, or if it’s just one of those things you can’t even recall why you do it, but you’ve done it as long as you can remember. _

_There’s a lot of little things like that. Somehow they all just accumulated, and it took a while for me to realise why I didn’t want to stop learning all those little things; why I couldn’t understand how anyone else didn’t see and appreciate how awesome you are; why I couldn’t help but miss you in every part of my life where you weren’t ~~because maybe I wasn’t really living if my life didn’t have you in it.~~_

_~~Something that a lot of people don’t tell you about love- it isn’t always beautiful. It isn’t always getting the girl you love flowers or confessing to her and kissing in the rain. Sometimes it’s burying your feelings deep, so you don’t make things harder. Sometimes it’s writing letters you’ll never read, because they’re things you think need to be said. Sometimes it’s just little smiles, the banter back and forwards, the support as a friend, because that’s the closest you can ever be to them, and at least then you can give them some of the love they deserve.~~ _

_But this isn’t about me. The reason I started writing these letters ~~(I mean, apart from the fact that Archie begged me~~ ) was to make sure someone told you how brilliant you are. _

_~~I’m sure you don’t really want to hear about my reminiscing, but this was a thought that I had when I was younger, and when I remembered it, I couldn’t help but feel it was fitting. You’d probably make fun of me a little if I told it to your face, but when I first met you, I thought you were a fairy. It made sense at the time!~~ _

_~~But I still see that faeriness in you now- the light turn of your nose, the way your hair catches the light and turns golden. Everywhere you go you spread kindness like magic (but maybe the real magic is just you, Betty Cooper, the love you bring and light up everything with), and you’re a wordsmith to the core.~~ _

_~~You might not be a part of the fae folk, but there’s something about you that tells every bone in my body that you’re special Betty Cooper.~~ _

_I don’t believe in magic- except for ~~movie magic~~ one kind that is- but I think if I did, you’d be it. ~~You are magic Betty.~~ _

_You’re wonderful in all the ways no one ever tells you to look for- fiercely independent and bold like a Friday night, full of possibility like a day in the hours before dawn paints the sky, peaceful like wandering along the shore at twilight, waves lapping in and out as the only movement._

_I think you could be anything you wanted to. ( ~~I just wish you wanted to be mine~~ ) _

~~_I just wish you could see yourself as I do- you’re always selling yourself short, but never doubt my feelings for you Betty._ ~~

~~_I know you don’t believe these are being written by Archie Andrews, and I think you know who’s writing you these letters, Betty Cooper. So, in the interest of honesty, even if you will never see this,_ ~~

~~_From_ ~~

~~_A boy who loves you_ ~~

She might not be a fairy, but there was something about is words- whoever he was- that made her feel as if magic were flowing through her veins.

Betty knew with certainty that _this_ was the real letter, that these all were, and it was so much better than the one she had received. She glanced into the box, and saw the practically overflowing contents.

So Betty settled herself on the top step of her porch, heels discarded beside her, and began to read.

-

The drive over to Betty’s was quiet. Archie kept casting looks at his friend, but Jughead looked determinedly out the window, the only outward sign of his turmoil was his white-knuckle grip on the beanie he twisted in his hands and the slight twitch in his jaw.

When they pulled up in front of Archie’s house, Jughead passed Archie a pair of earphones.

“I’ll call you, and then you say whatever I do, ok?”

“Jug, I really think you should talk to Betty…” Archie tried to protest

“Ok?” Jughead repeated, ignoring him.

Archie nodded reluctantly in agreement. A little more fiddling with his shirt hid the chord fairly well and so Archie exited the car, dread mounting in his gut. Veronica had assured him over text that it was all going to be fine, but that didn’t mean he _liked_ the part he was playing in this plan- i.e. being out of the loop- especially when he wasn’t sure if Veronica knew what he was about to do.

Jughead’s plan had been that Archie would make a gesture and scale up to her window, but he spotted Betty on the porch and changed his course. Jughead cursed quietly, trying to shift to get a good look at her without making any obvious movements.

“Hey Betty,” Archie said as he walked up to her, noting the broad smile on her face.

She started, shoving a piece of paper into a box and pushing it behind her as she rose to her feet. Betty had been enthralled in her reading and still trying to recover from the idea that someone could ever say those things about her and _mean it,_ so it took a few moments for the emotion to release her throat.

“Hey Archie.” her voice sounded a little weird, but considering her mind was still very much on the box of letters, props to her.

“I just wanted to apologise for the drive-in, I know how it must have looked, but Veronica and I just got caught up in conversation. I swear I would never cheat on you,” Jughead, repeated word for word by Archie, said, hoping that would be the extent of his involvement. He couldn’t help himself though, and added at the end, “How did you get home anyway?”

“I walked,” she said, still distracted.

Jughead made a noise in the back of his throat that Archie tried to copy but ended up having a coughing fit instead. Jughead sighed slightly; _this was going so well._

Through gasps, Archie parroted Jughead’s words, “Should.. augh, you be, utch, walking this late?”

Betty’s curiosity was piqued now. Archie wouldn’t think to ask about that, especially not if he could barely get the words out.

“Why shouldn’t I?” She asked daringly- she wouldn’t usually challenge Archie like this, but it felt a little off.

“Riverdale is a disaster waiting to happen -” Jughead muttered but then raised his voice to respond for Archie. “-It’s not the town it used to be. You know, I could have given you a ride.”

Jughead couldn’t see the eyebrow Betty had raised, but he could practically feel it.

“I didn’t really want to talk to anyone. I just needed to clear my head.”

Archie gave a half-sort of nod and Betty sent a look over to him as the silence stretched between them. Betty’s eyes narrowed slightly. There was something not quite right.

Archie had a way of speaking- he always finished solidly after sentences and with a sense of finality- but now, he wasn’t using his natural speaking rhythms. Instead, it sounded awkward, as if Archie were reading off a script, not speaking his own mind.

She needed to be sure though, so she asked,

“What did you and Veronica talk about?”

She watched him wince almost imperceptibly.

“I was asking about what she wanted for her birthday, since it’s coming up,” Jughead told Archie.

“Uhhmmm, we were talking about what I should get you for your birthday!”

Jughead groaned as Archie jumped in with his own excuse.

“My birthday? The one that was two months ago?” The scepticism in Betty’s tone was clear.

Internally cursing at his best friend’s adaption and tendency to mishear, Jughead responded, not without irony- though it was lost on Archie. 

“That’d be the one.”

Betty pursed her lips. This wasn’t like Archie. Everything about it felt wrong.

(By all definitions, she should just tell it to him straight that she didn’t like him like that and wanted to go back to being friends.

But… there was an opportunity for Betty here, if she was willing to risk it.

It couldn’t be a coincidence that she got the box of letters _now._ And if Archie was here, saying things that didn’t sound like him- chances were that he only had one person ghost-writing him. So if she could keep Archie talking… Betty might just be able to find out who was really writing those letters.

Maybe it was a bad idea, but with those words swimming in her mind- so kind and honest and _familiar,_ but from _where_? She just- she had to know.)

“Archie, why do you write me the letters?”

Jughead couldn’t breathe. Why was she asking about the letters now? Surely, they couldn’t have had this discussion at literally any other time, when Jughead wasn’t there?

Meanwhile Archie, hearing only silence from his earbud and panicking ( _because there wasn’t a plan for this Veronica)_ laughed, sounding slightly forced as he tried to brush her off.

“It’s easier to write it down than say it, you know? Didn’t I tell you this on our first date?”

Betty laughed in response, but hers too sounded insincere.

“I must have forgotten. But I just really want to know about why you wrote the things you did,” Betty pressed.

(She really hoped she was right about the real letter-writer being around here somewhere because this was going to be _very_ awkward otherwise. All she needed was one long response.

It was floating on the edges of her mind, just beyond reach- like a word you couldn’t remember, only the letter it started with- everything about the letters was so familiar, the phrasing, the words, the tone, but this was her one shot at getting to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. Or, she supposed, from Archie’s mouth. Betty would take what she could get.)

Jughead’s brain kicked into overdrive. He craned his neck to get a clear view of them, standing under the awning, framed by the white fence, the jock in his letterman jacket and the cheerleader in a beautiful dress. He owed it to them, to make his feelings useful just once more- to make sure both his best friends found the happiness they deserved.

(And if this was his last chance to ever confess his feelings to Betty, maybe it would feel a little less bittersweet- if only Jughead could have seen the half broken, despairing look on his face, coupled with a resignation that was tinged with melancholia.)

_One last time,_ he told himself, and he didn’t know if it was a reassurance or a threat.

_One last time_ , as he let out a sigh and let the words (all the ones he had been holding in for years) fall.

One last time. 

“I wrote them because I thought they were things I needed to share Betty,” he said simply, but then he couldn’t stop himself and Archie struggled to keep up as the sentences tumbled through the line.

“I know you’re worth so much more than these stupid words I string together, because we use them so much, they’ve lost all meaning and can’t do you justice. And by even trying to describe you, I’ve confined you, I’ve done disrespect to everything you are Betty. You’re… incredible, beyond explanation and I wish I could find a word for the feeling you give me; to make you feel the wonder, the understanding, the beauty and the pain that is loving you Betty Cooper.”

Jughead’s eyes were fixed on her as he finished, “I just wrote them because I thought they were things that needed to be said.”

Archie could hear the pain in his friend’s words and wanted nothing more than to throw the gauntlet down, there and then. But Veronica had told him to stick with Jughead and so he said every syllable, tripping over some of it until he came to the end.

Betty was suddenly hit by a wave of memories- from the letters she’d received, the ones she hadn’t, all the phrasing that had sounded slightly cut off. So much information was drifting forwards and backwards, overlapping and intersecting and not making sense until Archie drew to a stop.

And then, it hit her. The sarcastic tone, the earnest compliments, all the memories; the long sentences, the rhythm by which Archie was trying to imitate- pauses for consideration in the middle of sentences and then flowing on from one thought to the next. The kind of writing she had been editing for the past _year_ and somehow hadn’t noticed.

Archie watched a million emotions race across Betty’s face- confusion, amazement, denial, elation, exasperation, sadness- before settling on one.

Betty’s brow furrowed, eyebrows creasing before her eyes widened slightly with a murderous glint.

“ _Jughead Jones, if you don’t get out here in the next FIVE SECONDS, I will PERSONALLY kick your ass to Timbuctoo!”_

Jughead flinched. Maybe, if he stayed super quiet and very still, Betty would change her mind from whatever brain snap she was having.

“ _I swear to God Jones-”_

It seemed unlikely.

“ _Three…two…_ ”

He got out of the car.

A furious discussion between Betty and Archie had Archie smiling and waving goodbye before saluting Jughead as he wandered up to Betty, feeling slightly gauche.

“Hey Betty,” Jughead waved, keeping his distance.

“Hey Jughead, I just heard the _funniest thing.”_

The sarcasm dripping from her words was not something that encouraged Jughead to come closer, but he figured it was probably best to reply something.

“Yeah?”

Not his finest moment.

“Yeah,” Betty responded. “I just found out my best friend has been helping my other best friend lie to me. How about that?”

Jughead would have responded something witty but his eyes caught on the box sitting on the porch and instead, he let out a weak, choked noise.

Fortunately, Betty didn’t seem to be asking for audience participation.

“Apparently someone decided who I was in love with without actually _asking me._ Luckily, Archie has filled me in on some of the finer details. But I need _you_ to tell me what’s going on in that head of yours Jughead.”

Jughead’s hands shook slightly, “If you’ve got those letters, then I think you know how I feel.”

He tried to sound unaffected, but vulnerability leaked into his tone.

“I’m sorry Betty. Really. I just- I shouldn’t have agreed to write the letters for Archie. But you _know_ that I mean everything I write.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” Betty’s voice was impossibly soft and trembled slightly. Tears had been lurking all night, but now, they were verging on happiness.

“Everyone knows you’ve been in love with Archie for ever, Betty. You deserve the kind of life you can have with Archie. I want to help you have the life you deserve Betty because I.”

He paused, letting out a quick breath, before wrenching the beanie from his head and letting his raven curls fall into disarray and committed himself. “I love you Betty. Even though you love Archie, I can’t help myself. And I thought if there was any way I could make you happy, then I owe it to you to do it.”

He looked so young, standing there and watching her.

Betty let out a long breath. _They had been so stupid._ She laughed, a little disbelieving. 

“I don’t like Archie like that. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, but you kept avoiding me. I only wanted to talk to you. I missed you- and I’ve been wracking my brains for what I could have done to annoy you.”

“You didn’t do anything-” Jughead’s brain was running faster than he could keep up with- _she wasn’t in love with Archie?_ That was like having wind knocked out of him.

“Yeah well, I know that _now.”_

Betty sobered quickly- the sweet words written that sat beside her pulled at her consciousness and she just had to know, had to be sure.

“Did you mean it?” She gestured to the box beside her. Her eyes flicked away but her gaze was drawn back by Jughead’s shyly sincere response.

“Every word.”

A smile lit up her face as she carefully told Jughead- who wouldn’t meet her eyes, gaze planted on the ground- “You know, I have been waiting to date Archie for as long as I can remember. But as soon as I did, I realised I’ve never been in love with him. The only upside to all this awkwardness was these letters- your letters.”

Betty paused and then plunged on- Jughead had told her how he felt, now it was her turn.

“Those letters were- they were beautiful. But I couldn’t really enjoy them when I was worried about the guy I was _actually_ in love with was ignoring me.”

Jughead looked at her, uncomprehending.

Surely, only a masochist could love someone so _dense._

“I realised I’m in love with you Jughead.”

He froze completely. There was no way he’d heard what he thought he’d just heard.

“You’re funny and brave and smart and handsome and understand me like no one else and fuck Jughead please say _something_ ,” Betty added desperately.

Jughead couldn’t- for all his extensive reading, for all he was known as a wordsmith and words being his forte, he couldn’t find any. Instead, a grin stretched across his face and he took half a step towards her.

Betty jerked her head up at Jughead’s sudden proximity and was about to ask what he was going when he caught her lips with his own.

(It was hard to kiss when they were both grinning, but they made it work)

“How did you know I was here?” Jughead couldn’t help asking when they drew apart.

“That last confession- screamed Jughead Jones. I can’t believe I didn’t see it before,” Betty grinned.

(For their first anniversary, Betty would write _Jughead_ a love letter, a tradition they would keep up all the way into their marriage.

Their house would not be one with a picket fence or perfectly ordered, but it would be littered with little post-it notes, half-finished grocery lists- all with little scrawled compliments or sarcastic quips, love letters to the life they had built.

For now though, they could content themselves with the knowledge that they had no life they were ‘destined’ to live, only the one they chose. Not a cliché or a stereotype, but something else entirely, and it was more gorgeous than any life they could have lived separately).

(Jellybean would smile innocently when her brother suspiciously asked about the letter shoe box and Veronica and Archie would have the full support of their best friends when they- _finally_ \- got together.) 


End file.
